Crossroads: “When You Think You Can’t Do Something” – Moses

Exodus 4:1-17

Stats about Moses

• When Moses was born, there was a decree for midwives to kill all newborn Hebrew males; to save his life, Moses’ mother Jochebed built an ark out of reeds and left Moses floating on the Nile river
• Raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter
• Married to Zipporah, whose father, Jethro, was a priest
• The Bible says that when Moses died, he was buried by God in a valley in Moab

My Story

In the movie Despicable Me, Gru is an unlikely (and at times unlikeable) hero. He adopts three girls as a way to steal the moon. He doesn’t want to be the hero. He wants to be left alone, to be the villain who does something brilliant, who steals the moon. And yet, no matter how hard he fights it, he ends up becoming the hero, saving the girls from Vector, putting the moon back, and finding it in his heart to be a parent to these girls (and to his minions). He is the reluctant hero, the one who fights his calling and tries to do what he wants to do instead. It is not until he begins to listen to that voice inside of him, urging him to be better, that he starts to fulfill what he has been called to do.

Your Story

Has there been a time in your life where you were the reluctant hero? Have you ever been reluctant to do something you know that God wants you to do? Talk about these times as a family. What did you do? How did you feel after that? What was the end result?

The Bible Story

Moses is the reluctant hero. Feeling as though God made a mistake in calling him to be a leader, Moses does everything he can to try to get out of it. He gives God excuse after excuse as to why he wouldn’t be a good leader. And yet God continues to urge Moses, reminding him that He would always be with him.

Read Exodus 4:1-17.The Message: “Moses objected, ‘They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘GOD? Appear to him? Hardly!’’ So GOD said, ‘What’s that in your hand?’ ‘A staff.’ ‘Throw it on the ground.’ He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast! GOD said to Moses, ‘Reach out and grab it by the tail.’ He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. ‘That’s so they will trust that GOD appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ GOD then said, ‘Put your hand inside your shirt.’ He slipped his hand under his shirt, then took it out. His hand had turned leprous, like snow. He said, ‘Put your hand back under your shirt.’ He did it, then took it back out—as healthy as before. ‘So if they don’t trust you and aren’t convinced by the first sign, the second sign should do it. But if it doesn’t, if even after these two signs they don’t trust you and listen to your message, take some water out of the Nile and pour it out on the dry land; the Nile water that you pour out will turn to blood when it hits the ground.’ Moses raised another objection to GOD: ‘Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.’ GOD said, ‘And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, GOD? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.’ He said, ‘Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!’ GOD got angry with Moses: ‘Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he’s on his way to meet you. When he sees you he’s going to be glad. You’ll speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step. He will speak to the people for you. He’ll act as your mouth, but you’ll decide what comes out of it. Now take this staff in your hand; you’ll use it to do the signs.’”

Discussion

Ask your children if they have ever been reluctant to do something that they knew was right. What did they do? How did that feel? As a family, talk about anything you feel God is calling your family to do that you have been reluctant to (if anything).

Prayer and Action

• Thank God for calling us to do things even when we don’t feel worthy. Ask God to give you what you need to be able to do what He wants you to do.
• Find ways this week to do something you know is right but have been reluctant to do. Talk about these as a family.

Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.

Kevin Head began serving as Minister to Young Families at First Baptist Roswell, Georgia, in February 2012. He has pastored three churches in Kentucky and more recently served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Lumberton, North Carolina. In 2007, Kevin and his wife, Amy, began a ministry-based counseling practice called New Perspectives for Life in East Cobb, Georgia. He is a graduate of Furman University (B.A.) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D., M.Div.) in Louisville, Kentucky. Kevin was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Belvedere, South Carolina. His model of ministry is based on John 8 and the amazing, continual grace of Jesus Christ. Kevin and Amy have two children, Jenna and Joshua.

Why is Coracle the name of our blog?

A coracle is a small, round boat. It looks like something out of a movie about hobbits. In centuries past, Celtic Christian pilgrims would set out on the ocean in such boats, journeying where God would take them.